A Frog and His Witch
by SugarTea
Summary: The Harvest King and Witch Princess may have their differences, but the Harvest Goddess reminds Witch of a certain favor she owes him.   Witch Princess/Harvest King


**Author's Note: **Wah! Finally finished. :] A special fic dedicated to _Winter Oak_ because she's so awesome! I had a lot of fun while writing this, but I've never written for the Harvest King, so I hope he's in character. :l Hope you enjoy it~ ::heart::

_**SPOILERS:::**_ For the Witch Princess, the Harvest Goddess, and the Harvest King's real names!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harvest Moon.

**A Frog and His Witch**

A powerful red deity stared silently out at the island from his mountain perch. One by one, stars filled the sky and he felt the land slowly be put to rest. Lights blinked out from a nearby village, and every animal from the smallest insect to the largest bear tucked in for the evening. His delicate ears picked up a muted "hoot" in the distance, reminding him that the nocturnal beasts only just awoke from slumber; their day barely beginning now. It was not very often that the divinity found peace within his existence, but times like this, when he could virtually listen to nature and all who live in it breath as one, is one of the rare occasions when he could call being the Harvest King truly magnificent.

"Just who do you think you are!"

He sighed silently. As his duties were boundless, he often had little time to enjoy these small moments of serenity. He turned to see a sight that most mortals would find explicitly terrifying. The legendary Witch who lived in Fugue Forest approached him; her eyes piercing through the dark with an orange glow of both rage and inner magic. Her long silver hair wisped around her body, hauntingly reflecting the moonlight above.

"What plights you, Witch?" the heavenly being asked calmly. Yes, most mortals would go mad with uncontrollable fright, but he was no mortal. He was a God, and she answered to _him_, powerful she may be.

"That _typhoon_ you sent yesterday almost destroyed my entire house! It took nearly all my magic just to keep it from blowing away… I won't be able to cast spells for a week!" she complained, stomping her foot like a spoiled child. The Harvest King turned away, overlooking her rude behavior.

"You know very well that the seasons have their own will," he replied evenly; however, his response only seemed to further anger the Witch.

"They may have their own will, but they still answer to _you_," she yelled. The Harvest King remained silent, trying to keep himself from losing his patience. Only the Witch would have such audacity to challenge him. Her frown deepened when the Sun God didn't respond.

"Don't ignore me! And stop making excuses for yourself!"

Witch smirked, triumphed, as the Harvest God spun towards her, eyes ablaze. His burning energy rolled off of him in furious waves. She shielded herself with her arms. Though she didn't show it, she was inwardly panicking. Her magic was too weak to protect herself with.

"How dare you insult me when I am the life which sustains yours? You will show respect when in my presence!" the god roared feverishly. The heat emitting off him was so intense that the Witch couldn't even look directly at him. Another powerful gust of wind pushed her back.

"You're going to blow me off the mountain!" she screamed over his wrath. The wind and raw power just kept coming despite her cries, and the Witch knew she was going to fall over any second now. Before she lost her balance however, she was engulfed in a tunnel of flames. The heat was suffocating and it burned her face and eyes. Flames, angry and painful as if punishing her, licked at her exposed arms.

Just as she thought it was over for her, it all stopped abruptly. The temperature went from blazing hot to chilly and cool. Her body reacted with an involuntary shiver as goose bumps rippled across her skin. Witch removed her arms to find she was at the mouth of the mines, where the scripture carved in the language of the ancients stood. Tears of fear, shock, frustration, and anger prickled at the corner her eyes. She vigorously wiped them away as she swallowed yet another sob of relief. With one last glare at the mountaintop, she ran as fast as her legs could take her toward a forgotten forest path.

"Vivi! Thank goodness you're alright. I felt the Harvest King's anger for you from here…"

Witch ran into the arms of her best friend, the Harvest Goddess herself. The tranquil aura of the ruins comforted her as she was cradled in the tender arms of Sephia. When she finally calmed, Vivi collapsed onto the grass, back to her senses.

"Look what he did to me!" she nagged as she showed her friend the pink flesh on her otherwise pale and flawless arms. They were hardly burns since the fire barley touched her, but the Witch insisted that they stung painfully until the Harvest Goddess shook her head and dripped healing water from the spring on them.

"Vivi, you should know better than to lose your temper with the Harvest King," she scolded gently.

"I can't believe you're taking sides with _him_!" Vivi replied crossing her arms. Sephia put a hand on Vivi's shoulder.

"I am not taking sides with him," she said soothingly, "But you were wrong to accuse him like that. You know how difficult Summer is to control, and you spoke to him as though he purposely attacked you."

Witch frowned.

"So what do you want me to do, Sephia? Sacrifice a rabbit to him or something?"

The Harvest Goddess's eyes widened with horror.

"No! Of course not!"

Vivi laughed at her friend's expense, and the marine-eyed goddess glared at her.

"I think you should apologize," she said frankly. Vivi stared at her incredulously.

"Ha! Apologize? You must be joking."

"I know you two have your differences…"

"Differences is right! Like I would even _consider _saying sorry to that arrogant idiot."

An icy chill surrounded the Harvest Goddess as the Witch spoke these words.

"Vivi, the Harvest God is a great and powerful being. He has existed before this world was created and _will_ exist long after it is destroyed. It is he who keeps balance and order, and if not for his life force, I would wither, and so would the land. His judgment is…"

"Yeah, yeah… I know," Witch mumbled. "You don't need to remind me who he is."

"Then perhaps I should remind you who _you_ are,_ Princess_ Vivian."

Witch snapped her head up to glare at the Harvest Goddess.

"What are you getting at?"

"It happened centuries ago… But if memory serves, I do believe that the Harvest King did a great favor for you at his own expense. Have you forgotten?"

Witch held her knees to her chest and inhaled deeply.

"I don't remember."

"Remember or not, you owe him your respect and gratitude."

The Witch Princess stood up abruptly and stomped towards the exit of the spring.

"Vivi, please, hear me out!"

The Witch paused, and hesitated for a moment before treading on with new determination. The Goddess sighed and sat down comfortably at the base of her tree. When Vivi left completely, the Harvest Sprites cautiously tip-toed out of their hiding places and climbed up into Sephia's lap.

"The Witch Princess is scary!" Edge cried as he buried his face into her skirts. The Goddess laughed and stroked his back soothingly.

"That she is, Edge."

Collin tugged on her hair, which gracefully curled onto the grass like waterfalls.

"Do you think that she's actually going to apologize?" he asked. Sephia looked up at the sky; the stars faded quietly as they welcomed the new day.

"Whatever she decides, I'm sure her choice will be the right one," she replied with a soft smile.

The weeks went on and Witch, too stubborn to leave, stayed confined to her forest for the remainder of the summer. The season passed, and her spirits greatly improved when fall arrived. It was the time of the year when she gathered most of her ingredients for potions, and also an ideal time to play pranks on the villagers because most of them were too busy preparing for the winter to notice her sneaking about. Still, she did not forget about the incident with the Harvest King. It bothered her constantly; she was torn between her pride and obligation. She even went so far as to ask the _Wizard_ for help, who of course did his best to be as vague and abstract as possible.

"Arrrgh!" the Witch screamed as another potion blew up in her face. Smoke filled her small cottage as she burst through the door, coughing heavily.

"That's the third time this happened!" she growled. Sighing, she decided to take a break to clear her head. The sun cast its reddish glare, reminding her of a certain god, as it sank below the horizon. She made herself comfortable after sitting near the bank of the swamp. Looking out into the shadowy trees and listening to the mating calls of the bugs often relaxed her when she felt overwhelmed.

A croak brought her out of her trance. Looking beside her, she found a large slimy frog staring up at her with shiny black eyes. Perhaps a few years ago, she would have jumped back in a repulsed terror; but since the time she had to experience actually _being _a frog, she found new respect for the amphibian.

"Look, it's not what you think! I was just… distracted."

The moist-skinned creature stared at her unblinkingly.

"_Not_ by the Harvest King!" she yelled as a faint blush dusted her cheeks. "Besides… What do I owe that moron? So he does me _one_ favor and now he's gonna hold over my head for the rest of my life?"

She pouted at the green critter, her eyes vivid with desperation. The frog croaked once, and jumped into the swamp with a heavy "plop". Witch glared at the spot he disappeared into.

"Gee, thanks for the help," she mumbled dryly. With another sigh, she stood up and grabbed her broomstick from inside her house. Checking the sky, she figured it was dark enough for her to fly without getting noticed. Hopping on, she made her way towards the highest mountain top.

Vivi landed gracefully on the flat surface of Mt. Garmon. She easily spotted the Harvest King, and walked up beside him. Her stomach did flip-flops as she tried to summon the right words to say. Her mind just couldn't focus, though. All she could think about was how warm the god beside her was. His warmth radiated of him soothingly; not angry like the last time they were together.

"Look," she said finally. "I'm sorry about what happened, okay?" She crossed her arms and looked away so the deity wouldn't see her pink face. The Harvest king didn't even spare her a glance.

"If my sister sent you, you're wasting your time. Apologies mean nothing if someone forced you to make them."

Vivi frowned.

"Hey! No one forced me to do anything! I said sorry because I wanted to!" she yelled offended. The fiery god kept his gaze steadily on the island before him. The silver-haired witch inhaled in attempt to calm herself.

"I still remember what you did for me, alright? I appreciate that, and I'm sorry for being disrespectful," she said curtly.

"I don't know of what favor you are speaking of."

Vivi blushed and glared at him.

_Is he just messing with me…?_

"You know… the one when my parents…" she sighed, finally letting go of her pride. "The arranged marriage. You called off the arranged marriage between us! How could you forget?" she yelled while resisting the urge to smack him with her broomstick.

"Hmph, well of course. I hardly consider that a favor. It's common courtesy, though I'm sure you wouldn't know much about that."

Witch bit her tongue before she lashed out a comeback.

"Yeah, well… I guess I have to admit you're not such a bad guy." _Despite being an egotistical jerk._

The two sat in silence, looking out at the sky and earth. Vivi sat down, letting her legs dangle off the mountain as she admired the scene before her.

"You have a pretty good view up here," she said softly. The Harvest King looked down at her, and for the first time noticed the way her eyes shined like the morning sun during dawn.

"…You may come visit me anytime you wish, as long as you don't disturb me."

Vivi looked up at him and smirked.

"I'll hold you to that, oh-almighty Harvest King."

"Ignis."

"Huh?" He looked at her, and she blinked up at him.

"You may call me Ignis."

Witch smiled.

"Well, you can call me Vivi then."


End file.
